


Time

by Killerwhale



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alcohol, Brief mentions of others - Freeform, College Student Eren Yeager, Ex-inmate Levi, Food, It's not very serious, M/M, One-Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-26
Updated: 2017-05-31
Packaged: 2018-08-27 06:12:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8390299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Killerwhale/pseuds/Killerwhale
Summary: Levi Ackerman is getting out of prison. Eren Jeager out of school. And then their drunken paths cross.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is very different from what I usually write. I'm taking out my frustration about work, education, food and money in a fanfiction (making a lot of good life choices here), instead of working on my other project like i should be doing. And sleeping. I should do that too.  
> I hope it's not terrible :-\

After spending 7 years in prison, loosing out on your prime years, the world might feel more like an undiscovered realm cracked open before you. Where do you even start? Where do you lay down your roots, erect your headquarters and begin your exploration?

The first thing Levi did was walking into a liquor store and bought a bottle of cheap Whiskey, Benchmark No 8, for the money he had on him when he first entered prison. The only money he had on him when they threw him out of prison with a good luck, good bye and catch you on the flip side, inmate.

It was funny to think about how 7 years ago, he would not have been allowed to spend that money on alcohol, and now, now he wasn't even asked to show his ID. The guy behind the counter in the store probably assumed he'd done this plenty of times, when really, at 26, it was the first time. Wasn't that weird? Levi had possessed those $12 for 7 years, and while all the money in the world had kept moving in and out of pockets of strangers, the $12 dollars he was going to buy a burger for that day had been unused, packed in a folded envelope with his ring, an expired movie ticket, his old Nokia phone and a button that had fallen off his white collar shirt. The envelope neatly placed in a drawer somewhere, just waiting for it's owner's release and return to the real world, like a loyal dog, and when he finally got it, Levi bought alcohol. Not a burger.

The clothes he had worn doesn't fit anymore. The shirt is too tight around his arms and his jeans are too skinny. Only his shoes feel right, even if every step he takes in them feels wrong.

One sip of the drink and he regrets the decision. It tastes like shit. A burger would have tasted so much better to his hungry stomach. He has gotten used to drinking in prison. Drugs and alcohol had never been too difficult to get greedy nails clawed into, but that doesn't mean his natural born sweet tooth enjoyed it anymore. It tastes like the prison. Bitter and angry. Petty anger contained in a cheap bottle made of plastic.

When his uncle had not come to pick him up on his release date, even after the countless attempts to contact him and tell him he was getting out, Levi got the hint. He wasn't welcome anymore. He didn't want to go back to his uncle anyway. It'd be a death-sentence. A prayer to continue down the path he had been on. So when Levi walks up to one of the two homes he knew he'd be welcomed into, he is grateful. Grateful Uncle Kenny cut their bond for him, because he was never strong enough to do it.

Hanji opens the door and doesn't look as surprised as Levi had expected them too. They look happy, smiling sympathetically, cunningly. Like they always knew they'd end up like this, and without a word they hold the door open for Levi to enter. Levi walks inside, bottle in a paper bag in his hand, he treads carefully into their apartment and Hanji closes the door behind them.

 

 

On the other side of the city a young man, age 20, is in the middle of taking his exams. He swears he can hear someone actually sobbing in the back of the classroom, and feels like doing so himself, but contains his frustration and tries to utilize it to solve math problems instead. Somehow it seems to work, or, at least he is knocking the problems out and reaching some answers, whether it's the right or wrong answers he doesn't know yet. He hopes they are right. He can't fail this test. In fact, he needs to score at least a 85 to keep his scholarship next year, which he needs to afford school and an education, which he needs to get a job, and he needs a job to earn money, money to get an apartment and food, food to live. His breath is speeding up, he can feel the anxiety molding boulders in his stomach and mind, pressing his skull and organs to the brink of explosion. No, he has to calm down. Breathe, Eren. Breathe. 1+1=2,

√ (x 2 + 1 + 2x) = ?

and

Divide 3x⁴-5x²+3 by x+2 = why don't you just kill me right now?

The last 20 minutes of the test Eren spends watching the big clock on the wall and counts down the minutes till his release and the beginning summer vacation. The first of four years of college finished, and he has made plans to go out. To celebrate with his friends at the shabby bar downtown, the only place that doesn't care if they are old enough to drink, but only cares about the money poor college students are willing to give up to get plastered. Which is a lot, and why the drinks there are ridiculously expensive for a place that looks like it's been there since the French Revolution, and was unfortunately within the blast zone of the Hiroshima bombing.

"Times up. Pencils down."

 

 

The fridge contains nothing of interest, so Levi continues sipping his bottle of Benchmark No. 8 and listens to his friend talk about work. It hurts him to listen to it, makes his head hurt even more, but it is his own fault for asking. It makes him think about everything he has to do now. Get a job, find a place to live, college... maybe not college. It is a little too late for that. He has to call his probation officer and let him know he still hasn't committed any crimes, be polite and let him know he is very much looking forward to their meeting next Monday. He'll have to borrow Hanji's phone. Call his grandfather, maybe. Get a working phone, one of the new ones. Smart phones, as they call them. Levi has never held one before. First and foremost he has to get a job.

"Levi." Hanji whines from their old-fashioned sofa, with a nasty looking flower pattern and wooden handles, legs and edges. It makes a weird squish sound every time they move, like it's about to enrapture, maybe leak green fluids. "You're not even listening."

"No." Levi says honestly. He wasn't. He couldn't. Everything was so novel, too familiar, but still very outlandish. No guards to dictate his every move, no uniforms, no bunk beds... not that he had ever let the guards dictate his every move. The guards liked him. The inmates feared him. He had owned block C, every row, every level, every corridor. Now he didn't own anything but the clothes on his back, a broken Nokia and a bottle of horse piss.

"Are you hungry?" Hanji asks with a sigh, and Levi realizes he's been staring into the practically empty fridge for almost 10 minutes. He closes the door and takes another sip.

"I need a job." Levi says.

"You literally just got out 4 hours ago," Hanji pats the spot next to them on the sofa for Levi to sit down. He refuses. "I think job hunting can wait."

"In the last 4 hours I've come to realize the world doesn't wait for anyone."

 

 

 

"Wait for me outside of The Wall, alright?" Eren calls to his sister over the phone. He's walking down the street to the bus stop, where he stops to wait in the morbid heat with a bunch of other students. They all look tired, but pleased. All thinking the same thing; Finally free! But they are not totally free yet. Eren has a rising feeling of fear of the upcoming week. The results of his exams will be published and he finds out whether he can continue college or has to drop up and get a paid job instead. Save money, then go back to school. And they say the first year of college is all fun and games? Rich, ignorant leeches.

"Just don't be late." Mikasa warns.

"I'm never late." Eren claims and is met with laughter from the other end of the phone. They both know he is lying, and his ears turn red. It's all it takes for them both to realize Eren will most likely be late, and Eren accepts his faith. "I won't be too late."

He still has to go home, shower, change, eat. Yeah, food sounds like a good idea, if he really is going to fulfill his profound destiny of following the tradition; getting shitfaced drunk to celebrate the end of another semester, and wake up with a regrettable headache tomorrow.

"I'll hurry." He quickly adds, as terrible as it sounds, he really is looking forward to the murderous headache. Just something. Something to take his mind off school, money and whatever other problems he has, but has no solutions to.

"Okay, Eren. We'll wait for you." Eren can hear the caring smile from his sister before the line goes dead.

 

 

"Hurry up!" Levi yells from the living room to Hanji, who is still getting changed in their bedroom. Hanji had spent the last 30 minutes trying on different outfits, refusing to leave the comfort of their own apartment without looking like they just robbed a D&G store. Levi put the booze down.

"For someone who's been restrained and locked up for 7 years, you are very impatient." Hanji steps out and finds their shoes by the door, where Levi's leaning against the wall. Waiting. He can't help but smile at the remark, for they are absolutely right. He is very impatient. Perhaps scared the world will pull even further ahead of him, and he can do nothing but stare as it leaves him behind again.

"I'm hungry." He says.

"Alright, let's go!" They step outside and Hanji locks the door behind them. "Erwin and Mike will meet us there."

Hanji, Erwin and Mike were really the only people who knew Levi was getting out. He hasn't told any family members, except his desperate attempts at contacting his uncle, and he has no other friends he has kept in contact with. High school friendships aren't meant to last this long.

 

 

"Thanks for waiting." Eren says sarcastically as he walks up to his friends. They are already inside the bar, and had not bothered to wait for him where they promised. They have their drinks and smile apologetically at him. Even Mikasa betrayed him. His own flesh and blood leaving him hanging and not answering his calls. He even skipped eating for the sake of not making them wait too long.

"You took too long." Jean says and generously passes him a drink. They are already in the middle of a conversation and Eren is finding it difficult to jump in. Talking about summer jobs, internships. Not what Eren wanted to think about just yet. One drink, two drinks, three drank. Soon enough Eren has lost count of how many he's had, how many exams he has taken the last two weeks. One more. He dances for a bit, which only serves to mix the fluids in his stomach violently.

 

 

They lured him out with a promise of dinner. A promise which did not hold. Instead Levi is sharing a table with them at a rundown bar, right across the street from where he first was arrested. His asshole friends thought it'd be a fun trip down memory lane. At least they are buying drinks, buzzing his mind like an angry beehive. It's been a weird evening of being happy for his friends, being pleased about his release, but feeling lonely and left behind. A phoenix in water. What does he have? No job and sleeping on his friend's couch.

 

Lack of food, too many drinks offered up by generous friends and even more generous strangers makes the world go round. No, it doesn't keep the world going, but makes it spin and the lines around Eren is slowly blurring out. He's sitting down, but it still feels like he is dancing in circles around himself. Mikasa is trying to make contact, snapping her fingers in front of him. Eren blinks a few times to make out her face, then mumbles "I have to pee," to her or himself, he is not sure. He gets up and staggers across the dance floor. Not sure if Mikasa even heard him over the loud music.

 

Erwin is talking about getting Levi a job. Like Levi himself, he doesn't think waiting is necessary. Levi needs a job, but hearing Erwin talk so realistically about it is making him nauseous. Or maybe it's the alcohol. Either way it makes it difficult to breathe and Levi feels like throwing up. It's moving too fast and too slow at the same time.

He lifts himself up from the chair without a word and tumbles away from his friends, who all stare after him. They'll understand.

 

The men's bathroom is dimly lit. The mirrors have been tagged over, so there's no way to see your reflection, unless you stare into the unmoving water in the left sink. It's been clogged by paper and nobody wants to touch it. While the line for the women's bathroom stretches all the way to the bar counter, only two men stand in the men's. One of them, a young man with brown hair and green eyes, who's had too many drinks, is staring at his reflection in the dirty sink water. Impatient and frustrated, drunk.

The other, an older, though shorter man, with dark hair and eyes older than his body, walks inside and stops.

Eren raises his head and their eyes meet. Neither moves or says anything. They don't know each other. The world keeps moving around them, but in that small men's bathroom of The Wall, a small bar downtown, time stagnates for them. In that moment time stops only for them and gives them a short break. The door closing kills the loud music, the air conditioning might be the only one working in the entire bar, but it keeps the room chilly. With a smell like someone just took their last piss and died from alcohol poisoning with their dick still in their hand.

Levi doesn't understand why he stops, but just stands there and stares at this guy who's slugging over the clogged sink. The two stalls are both free for him to use, but his nausea is gone from mixing with the disgust of the raptured looking washroom and he doesn't feel like he has to throw up anymore. Instead blood drains from his face and he is feeling light headed.

"Rough night?" Levi asks. Eren nods. Levi nods too.

"You have no idea." Eren says and it takes some self-control on Levi's side to not challenge him on it.

"I can imagine." Levi moves to the free sink and turns on the water. He splashes his face with cold water to calm himself down.

"Your friends drag you out?" Eren asks, watching his bathroom buddy out of the corner of his eye. Pale skin glistening with water running down. Drowsy, silver eyes like daggers.

"I just wanted a burger." Levi says.

"Oh god, a burger sounds so good right now!" The younger man declares and jerks up straight. "There's a burger joint across the street. I'll buy you one if you keep me company." His words are tangled and slippery, vision even worse. He can hardly make out the lines of this stranger's face. Eren does not even know his name, but he is hungry.

"Seriously?" Levi asks.

"Yeah."

"You don't even know my name."

"Don't have to. You look like a nice guy."

 

 

Levi tells his friends he'll be back in 20 minutes, he just have to take care of something. Eren doesn't tell his friends anything, but figures they will call if they miss him. Not 5 minutes later they are sharing a booth at the burger place that smells as much of weed as it does of burned meat, and they share the restaurant with a surprising amount of people considering it's 3 in the morning on a Thursday.

"My name is Levi, by the way." Levi says. He's too drunk, too hungry to thoroughly think of the situation he is in. It makes little to no sense, but it doesn't matter much anyway. Not when he finally has gotten his burger in front of him. Double cheese. Warm. Dripping dressing. No tomatoes. And for a second he wonders if he should have asked the judge to give him a death sentence. It might have taken him less time to get his hands on this wonderful meal.

"I'm Eren. Sorry this is a bit weird." He says so, but doesn't feel it. "I usually buy guys drinks, but food seemed more appropriate."

"It is." Levi agrees. He can only speak for himself, but it seems they have both had too many drinks already anyway. "Besides, they say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach."

"Well, drinks go through your stomach too."

"Just shut up and eat."

Eren laughs and does as he is told. They eat in silence. Then they talk. And they forget about time. Hanji appears at one point, informing Levi they're going home, all while giving Eren curious looks. They wink at Levi and leave him to it.

Neither Levi or Eren watches the clock on the wall or checks the time. They fill the hours with talk of everything and nothing in particular. The sun rises outside, and the last thing to burst their bobble is a third phone call from Eren's sister. The buzz is still present, but Eren can now make out the lines of Levi's face. He has sharp features, circles under his eyes, pale skin that hasn't seen sunlight in far too long. They are contrasts, only sharing the tired, dark blue circles.

 

 

"So, you gonna give me your number?" Eren says, knowing his words are far too cocky, but lacking the control to deny them. And Levi seems like the type of guy who can play along with the attitude.

"What? Think just because you buy me food I'll give you my number?"

"No, of course not. I'm not a complete jerk. Just thought I'd ask." Eren smiles. "I won't get mad if you say no, but you should know you'll miss out on a great second date."

"I don't have a phone."

Eren means it when he says he won't get offended by a rejection, however, he does not like it when people lie. Who doesn't have a phone? It's not just that he lied, but Levi made it so obvious it was a lie too. He meant to offend him. Wanted to rub it in.

"Sure. You could've just said no." Eren moves to stand up, but is stopped by Levi's hand grabbing his.

"I'm serious. I don't have a phone." Levi pulls his Nokia from his pocket. "At least not a working phone. All I have is this shit."

"What the hell is that even? Did you steal that from the Museum of National History or some shit?" Eren grabs the brick out of Levi's hand to inspect it. "You could probably get a lot for this at an antique shop. I hear retro is in now."

"It's a long story." Levi shrugs. He can't help but smile at Eren's remarks. "I'll tell you about it if you give me your number. If I can't find a phone I'll send you smoke signals, so look out for those."

"I'll watch the sky every day."

"You better."


	2. Good Timing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this part months ago as a part of a bigger chapter I can't make myself complete, which is why this is so short. I hope it's not terrible <(n_n<)

Five days pass by slowly. Eren watches the sky like one would watch the grass grow, with no patience and no sense of calmness. It's just his luck to get a grumpy bus driver when he takes the dreaded trip downtown, in one of the old vehicles that shakes like it's the source of an earthquake. Too much to lean his head against the window, not enough to make it a fun rollercoaster ride. Just enough to make the babies on the bus cry and the old ladies complain, and the grumpy old bus driver to hush them all every other minutes. Did he accidentally drive into an alternative universe? One where his life is a childhood song.

He didn't get a pounding headache from his post-semester celebrations, but he has had one every day since, it's slowly sculpting into a consistent struggle of feeling like he should be doing something, but having nothing to do yet. He's still waiting for his exam results. He starts his summer job at a seaside restaurant in a little over a week. Levi still hasn't contacted him.

It's been too many days for Eren to still expect and wait for Levi to call. Five days is just too many days. If it takes Levi that many days to find a working phone, he's just not interested. It's disappointing. Eren felt like they had some kind of weird connection when they talked, but maybe it was just Eren. Or maybe it was the alcohol. Most likely it was Eren being a walking wifi hotspot, while Levi only had access to Bluetooth.

The blue page above him is without clouds or smoke signals, but Eren watches it anyway. He eyes a trained only on the sky, so he does not notice the pausing bus they pass by, or the passengers getting off it.

 

Across the street Levi gets off a bus. It feels like everyone is staring at him, but he tries to ignore it as he walks into the building where he is supposed to meet his probation officer. The fact that he's wearing Hanji's clothes, that are all one or two sizes too big for him, doesn't help. With his young face and angry eyes it makes him look like a young thug who is trying desperately to fit into a gangbanger persona. The complete opposite impression he wants to reek of, no matter how comfortable the clothes are.

"...It's important that you make a living for yourself and act independently. Not only to get food on the table, but to keep busy and stay out of trouble." His probation officer tells Levi before the short man leaves the stuffed office with a stack of papers in his arms, and a check from the state "to get him up off the ground and started."

The only help offered was a memorized list of places that (to the officers knowledge) are willing to hire ex-cons. The few places that actually understand that once you've served your time you're not supposed to be considered a criminal anymore. Levi had done his time, served his sentence, let out early... wasn't he supposed to integrate back into society now? Be a normal, law-obeying citizen.

Levi has more 'job' options that he is willing to let on to the old man. The aspect of finding work to pay the bills isn't very difficult with the right contact, and Levi has a lot of those. The only problem is they would not be legal option. He still has contacts in prison, as well as people who were let out before him. People he could call up and they will help him out in a heartbeat, either because they owe him, fear him or respect him immensely. Only a few factors hinder him from calling.

For one; Hanji would not approve. Erwin and Mike might actually try to kill him if he does.

Most important was spite. Pure fucking spite for his uncle and the last conversation they had. It was the first and only time his uncle, his guardian, had visited him in prison, on Levi's 20th birthday. He had told Levi "You're never getting out of here. You might get out, but once you've been convicted, you'll get convicted again. This is your home now, boy."

"Just you wait, I'll show you." Levi mumbles to himself, determined to prove his uncle wrong.

 

Eren does not like to wait for anything. Lines were created by the devil to test and break simple humans. The longest he has ever had to wait for a guy to call him up is 23 hours, so for him to even accept it if he got a call now would be surprising. During his wild morning he had already decided he would not pick up, should a strange number call him.

And then there's waiting for his test results. First they test his math skills, now they are testing his patience, which he barely has any of to begin with. Mikasa proves to be no help, being just as restless as he is. They jog together in the evening and discuss how their calm and loving mother managed to raise two such reckless and fidgety youths, who seems to always have to push themselves past breaking point.

"One more round?" Mikasa asks, heaving for fresh air, her legs a little wobbly. Eren is in even worse conditions after their straining workout, but nods still.

"Sounds like a good idea."

 

"Are you sure it's a good idea to start something so soon?" Hanji rocks back and forth in the sofa, curiously watching Levi struggle to dial a simple number on his new phone. Not only does he not understand how this supposedly very intelligent phone works, but he has to decipher the smudged numbers off a slightly torn napkin.

"I'm sure it's a terrible idea." Levi admits quietly.

"Then why Levi?" They ask. Their movements causes waves in the uneasy floorboards. The apartment is rundown, old, no longer worth the money it took to build, or the rent Hanji pays every month. The flaking paint on the walls, the creaking floor, view from the window overlooking all of 35 bricks of the neighboring building; without the floral sofa it would look very much like a prison cell.

"If you're feeling lonely you could get a cat? I wouldn't mind a cat. We can keep it here. We just have to hide it from the landlord, cause he's against all joy and happiness. And he might have said something about being very allergic to felines, or something." It's not a bad idea in theory. It's just not what Levi wants, or why he presses the green button to dial out.

"I don't want a cat, Hanji. I want to get laid."

 

Breathing heavily, laying heavily, thinking heavily. All taking place on Eren's bed by him and him alone when his phone rings. With a numb brain and numb fingers, he doesn't think as he takes the call and presses the phone to his ear.

"Yeah?"

"Uh, hey. It's Levi. From last week?"

"Levi?" Pause. "Oh, OH. Levi."

"Yeah, hi."

"Well, shit. You know the rules say you only have to wait 3 days, right?" Eren is allowed one peppered comment, right?

"Sorry, the landlord caught me building a bonfire on the roof and threatened to kick us out, so I had to get an actual phone."

The sound of Eren's laughter is so loud it echoes through the phone and back to him.

"What a lame guy!"

"Anyway, I was hoping you could forgive the late call and let me repay you for that burger."

Eren forgets all about his plan to not answer, definitely reject and tell him to fuck off. He rolls over on his side and waits three seconds before he answers, only to not seem too desperate.

"Alright, sounds good."

"You sound good." Levi gives zero shits about whether or not he sounds desperate. Being straight forward and honest has always worked better for him. At least it did in prison. As much time as they had in there, nobody had the time to walk seven rounds around any bushes.

"What?"

"What?"

There is a short silence before Eren mutters;

"I am good."

 

**Author's Note:**

> Pffff, who even needs an ending or epilogue???


End file.
